Western Greek Taranto Pottery Antefix of Io, Ex Arte

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Exceptional Finds Ancient, Ethno, Fine Art

By Artemis Gallery

Nov 15, 2024

Set Reminder 2024-11-15 10:00:00 2024-11-15 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Finds Ancient, Ethno, Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-finds-ancient-ethno-fine-art-17210
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• Lot Description

  Ancient Greece, Taranto, ca. 4th century BCE. A striking head-turner of an antefix depicting Io - the goddess/nymph with cow horns, presenting a beautiful face with delicate features including almond-shaped eyes, full lips and rounded chin. She dons lovely drop earrings and is crowned with a wavy coiffure. The nymph Io was a priestess of Hera, who Zeus took as a lover. In a bid to protect her from Hera's wild jealousy, he changed her into a beautiful white heifer. Size: 7.75" W x 7.375" H (19.7 cm x 18.7 cm); 10.25" H (26 cm) on included custom stand.

  Roof tiles that ran along the eaves of ancient Greek and Etruscan buildings often ended in upright, painted, mold-made terracotta members called antefixes which usually took the form of either human or mythological heads. These antefixes had three functions. First, they concealed the termini of convex tiles and thus protected them from bad weather. In addition, they were part of the architectural decoration. Finally, these visages were believed to possess an apotropaic role, fending off evil and bad luck from temples.

  
  For a closely-related antefix in the British Museum see C. Johns, Cattle, History, Myth, Art, London, 2011, p. 70, acc. no. 1884,1011.7.

  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
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  <br><br><b>SHIPPING EXCEPTIONS: </b>Due to customs clearance issues, we are unable to ship to Germany, Switzerland and Australia.  If you live in Germany, Switzerland or Australia, you will need to provide an alternate shipping destination, or we will not be able to complete your purchase. In addition, please note that we are unable to ship ancient items back to the original country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.)

  
  #190208

  Condition

  Missing area at each side as shown, antefix section at rear missing approximately 3/4 of the clay sleeve.

• Provenance

  private New Jersey, USA collection; ex-Arte Primitivo, New York, USA, Sale #81, July 20, 2016; ex-Robert Feuer collection; ex-Zadok Arts, Jerusalem, Israel, in the mid-1980s

• Shipping Info

  • All shipping is handled in-house for your convenience. Your invoice from Artemis Gallery will include shipping calculation instructions. If in doubt, please inquire BEFORE bidding for estimated shipping costs for individual items.

    **Please note, we are currently unable to ship to Germany, Switzerland and Australia due to customs clearance issues. We are working to resolve this issue. If you are in Germany, Switzerland or Australia, you will need to provide an alternate shipping destination, arrange your own shipping, or we will not be able to complete your purchase.* **For shipments outside of the USA, custom / duties may apply upon entry into said country; this fee, if any, is the buyer's responsibility. Also, please be aware that Artemis Gallery will NOT falsify customs value on any international shipments - what you pay is what we declare, no exceptions. If you have questions about this, please inquire BEFORE bidding**

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